


Two of a Kind

by envexenveritas



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25002007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/envexenveritas/pseuds/envexenveritas
Summary: After "The Day of The Doctor" UNIT has been left to rehome 20 million Zygons, but for Kate Stewart that problem is nothing compared to the one Zygon who remains in the form of UNITs seminal scientist.
Relationships: Kate Lethbridge-Stewart/Petronella Osgood
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ncruuk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncruuk/gifts).



> Set in ncruuk's UNIT verse because that's the canon now. Sorry, I don't make the rules, not sorry.

“So six scientists, and six resistance fighters in a room.”

“And we’ve got six hours to come up with a treaty to save all human and Zygon lives in England, well in London at the very least.”

The other Kate raised a questioning eyebrow.

“What you disagree with my time frame? You know as well as I do that we have to put some limit in place. And after your introduction, the number six seemed rather appropriate.”

“Well, that’s one thing we can agree on. But agreeing on an entire treaty whilst keeping the entire human population in the dark? Where are the lawyers when you need them?”

“Ma...Ma’am?”

“If you have an idea to get out of this mess you don’t need my permission to say it McGillop.”

“Do… do we need to work out every legal loophole?”

“Surely we have a UNIT lawyer with a high enough clearance level to fill out any blaring emissions we make?”

“And give the Humans every advantage over the Zygons in this treaty?”

“No thank you, McGillop.”

“I wonder what The Doctor did to the memory filters…?”

“Osgood?”

“Sorry just thinking aloud Ma’am.”

“Would you like to continue thinking aloud?”

“Oh… it’s just, if they alter the memory of every Human and Zygon in the room then surely…”

“Surely if we brought in another Zygon and one of the UNIT lawyers they’d be able to help with all these legal details.”

“Not likely,” Kate muttered to herself.

“But it would rather depend on whether the filters are providing a continuous effect or whether they just effected those in the room at that particular moment in time.”

“Sorry, Osgood, I’ve worked with enough planetary bureaucracy to know that lawyers, even UNIT lawyers aren’t going to work within the time limit for this particular situation.”

“Exactly! That’s what I was saying…” McGillop broke in before changing his mind. His sudden exclamation making me feel rather uncomfortable, especially under the questioning look of two Kate Stewarts.

“You… you see what I mean is, Ma’am…”

“If we.. we hash something together now that can be agreed in principle by both Humans and Zygons.”

“The six of us.”

McGillop nodded his thanks to his double. “Then lawyers, Human and Zygon can take their time dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s.”

“We just need to build in some kind of precaution in the meantime,” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Something that both the Humans and Zygons can agree to trust,” Osgood began, bouncing idea back at forth with herself.

“And a backup, maybe two in case that goes wrong. I wonder if The Doctor could help with that?”

* * *

“So 20 million Zygons, spread across the globe, all without the public being aware or of the doubles being recognised.”

“We’ll need to set up and register each Zygon with their nearest UNIT base for their protection, and access to the body prints of around a third of the UK citizens for the purpose.”

“Anything else?”

“We’ll need a protocol in case the original holder of the body print well, um, dies suddenly.” Osgood punctuated her sentence by resettling her glasses on her nose.

“Running, screaming Humans caused by completely unavoidable transformation, not great for morale.”

“Yes, thank you McGillop.”

“Do you think exobiology would be able to help out long term?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“And don’t tell me that you’re not a biologist.”

“Um… see if there’s a way to extend the use of the body print. If we can analyse how the mental connection is established and see how that connects to the physical transformation.”

“We might be able to extend the physical transformation beyond the point of death.”

“Even a few minutes would give a Zygon the chance to get out of a public situation.”

“Not quite how I’d put it, and of course, there are a lot of details that exobiology would need to fill out, but yes.”

“Good, so…”

“And, uh, our safety net Ma’am?” McGillop reminded.

“We only really need to facilitate against dissenters from within the Zygons and UNIT. Given that the Zygons aren’t being revealed to the human population at large.”

“Oh, is that all?”

“It has to be me.”

“Osgood?”

“Yes, sorry, of course, Ma’am. I’m still not sure about larger deterrents, but I’m sure we can come up with something.”

“But in terms of a liaison, someone who both sides can trust. It has to be me.”

“Well, it has to be us,” both Osgoods spoke the final word together, looking towards there bosses with unfaltering determination.

“Okay, I understand it needs to be someone Humans and Zygons can trust. And that we can’t exactly rely on The Doctor, but is there any reason it can’t be someone else in this room?”

“Whoever it is needs to still be trusted after today. That means that either two of us have to remain ignorant of who we are.”

“Or it has to be the two of us who already know,” finished the other Osgood stepping forwards to stand next to her double.

“How long?”

“Since just before The Doctor left.”

“The youngest one. The one who looks oldest,” she clarified.

“But that was when we had barely started discussing everything.”

“Yes McGillop, it was.” If there was something akin to sadness behind his boss’s proud smile, well, McGillop definitely wasn’t brave enough to voice it. “Would you excuse us for a minute?”

Both McGillops walked off awkwardly, wondering the shelves of the Black Archive trying to give the women the illusion of privacy in the enclosed space.

“Osgood,” both Kate’s began together.

“You know it has to be me, Kate.”

“Yes, I’d rather gathered that.”

“But as much as I would like to; barring a better solution, I’m not trying to talk you out of it.”

“Ma’am?” Osgood slipped awkwardly into the jargon of the rest of the tower, surprised that McGillop had been sent away for something that wasn’t a personal conversation.

“You said you’ve known since the beginning. So I think we need to know.”

“For the protection of both our species. Human…”

“...or Zygon?”

“I think that rather defeats the point, Ma’am.”

Both Kates sat up shocked. They hadn’t necessarily expected the Osgoods to tell them, but they hadn’t expected an argument on protocol. Not when she was the one who had written most of the damn things.

“If The Doctor thought that not knowing which side we are on would be the most conducive way to come to an agreement…”

“And not blow ourselves up,” the other Osgood added pointedly.

“… then surely continuing to not know which species the mediator is would be the most conducive to keeping the peace.”

“But you, both of you, know which species you are?”

“Yes,” the Osgoods replied together.

“How would we be able to guarantee, to both the Humans and the Zygons, that whichever one of you they’re talking to isn’t going to turn around and stab them in the back.”

“Kate,” both Osgoods looked shocked, horrified that this was something their lover could expect from them.

“Os!” Both Kates reached out, trying to reassuringly take hold of hands that were quickly yanked out of their reach. “Osgood.”

The Osgoods shrank further back, they may be in the middle of making a very delicate, diplomatic peace treaty, but they couldn’t help but feel that their girlfriend had just suggested that they would be capable of committing genocide.

One of the Kates sighed, “This would be easier if it weren’t you.”

As unexpected remarks go that may have been rather tame in comparison to what had come previously, but it was enough to return the Osgoods interest to the conversation.

“If I were Human, knew I were Human, I wouldn’t trust a Zygon not to betray me, no matter who they might look like.”

“And if I were Zygon, I wouldn’t trust a Human not to do the same.”

“So in regards to the trust of both species…”

“Which are you?”

“That’s exactly it, Ma’am.”

“That’s why we can’t tell you.”

“Can’t tell anyone.”

“This way both species can trust one of us…”

“… Until they learn to trust both of us.”

“And what reason so either species have to trust you currently?”

“Kate…”

Kate held up her hand, stopping Osgood in her tracks. “You have just admitted to having lied to everyone here for the past…” Kate checked her watch, before remembering she had no idea what time all this strangeness, even by UNIT standards, had started. “… all night.”

“And have I given you any reason to suspect us of betraying either species in the past 6 hours 43 minutes?”

“Of course we’ve run over.”

“Even more than 43 minutes, Ma’am. That’s just since we’ve been aware of our species.”

“And no, of course not.”

“I see no reason why both species couldn’t learn to trust you.”

“But don’t expect with of us to like it.”

Both Osgoods lit up with the hint of a smile at that, “Wouldn’t dream of it, Ma’am.”

“But, uh, one more thing.” Osgood began to look nervous again as she realised that she was going to have to contradict something her boss had stated earlier. “The records, of who and where the Zygons are.”

“Yes?”

“UNIT can’t have them.”

The other Osgood took over before Kate could object, “Well, I mean, we’re UNIT so of course UNIT will have access. It’s just that, um…”

“… access can’t be widespread. We can’t leave it to the individual UNIT hubs there are too many risks.”

“Especially in areas where UNIT had to borrow large numbers of local troops, Ma’am.”

“It’s going to be much harder to keep track of 20 million Zygons without local help.”

“And you’ll be much more of a target with all the data being in one centralised location. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“We should be able to alter the control polyp to keep track of everyone. With your help, Ma’am.”

“And if we want to keep the peace I might have to be something of a target, no matter how much I hate it.”

Kate looked back questioningly, Osgood knew better than most her limitations with technology. “Biological computers. Of course, I wasn’t thinking.”

“McGillop,” the other Kate raised her voice just enough to alert her collogues that this was no longer a private conversation, “how’d you like to help us with a science problem?”

* * *

It was something that no-one at the tower would have expected to see. The normally confident and collected Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the woman who had just seen off an attempted Zygon invasion; was stood rocking backwards and forwards on her heels, worrying her lip between her teeth, hand in the middle of reaching out towards the door to her girlfriend’s lab. Or should that be girlfriends’?

No.

No!

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She loves Osgood, had done for the past 9 years. She didn’t have the count down to the day, Osgood would know. But loving more than one person the way she loves Os had never been part of the plan. Still wasn’t part of the plan. One of the Osgood wasn’t even human for God’s sake.

But there they were just the other side of the door, examining samples, recording results, moving around each other and the lab as though that’s the way that it had always been. As though Kate hadn’t arrived at the tower this morning with one of them one her arm, as though the other hadn’t even existed a mere two hours ago.

At least not in this form, the form of her Os. A Zygon, all six foot tall, and red, and suckers, and alien. But now… now she looked into the lab towards the woman, women? No! she loved and couldn’t tell which one she woke up to this morning and which one hid a body of venomous barbs and suckers behind that beautiful face.

One of the Osgoods stood, putting her hand on her sister’s shoulder before headed towards the door.

“Kate.”

Kate shrank back as she saw Osgood’s hand moving to start rubbing up and down her arm. Kate expected a huff of anger, annoyance, something as she shrank away from her lover. Was this one actually her lover? But Osgood simply guided them both gently through to her rarely used office.

“We were going to wait for you to approach us, but you’ve been standing in front of the lab for 10 minutes.” Osgood perched on the edge of her desk, staying in Kate’s eye line but otherwise giving her girlfriend free rein of the office.

“We…” Kate ran a hand through her hair shaking her head slightly, “You… Her…” Kate shook her head again, the pronouns rolling around in her brain, starting to give her a headache.

“Take a breath.” Osgood waited until she heard the sharp inhale, “Let’s start this again?”

“Are… are you her?” Kate looked up towards her girlfriend for the first time since coming into the office. “Are you the Osgood I came in with this morning?”

Osgood held her gaze needing Kate to see the truth of her words, “We both are, Kate.”

“No!” Kate stopped her tirade as she heard the intake of breath begin to form into a wheeze, but her anger still burned through her veins. "Go, now," Kate's voice was cold and calm. This wasn't Osgood's fault it was the only way to sort out the current mess and if that caused personal pain then so be it.

Osgood jumped from her perch on the desk scurrying quickly out of the room. The scientist took her bag and inhaler from her twin on the other side of the door. The two made their way up through the corridors of the tower hoping not to meet another soul as they hurried up to the surface.

* * *

It was many hours later when Kate finally made it home. It wasn’t unusual for her to get through the door this late into the night, or of Osgood to have been home long before her, but usually see hadn’t spent the intervening hours staring at the empty walls of her girlfriend's office.

Her breath caught in her throat as she went to hang up her coat next to the familiar duffel. She staggered backwards collapsing onto the stairs. As comforting and happy as the signs of her girlfriend ordinarily made Kate, today everything was wrong. Two pairs of identical walking boots tucked neatly under the hall table; two long multicoloured scarves hung carefully on the same hook, positioned as though purposefully trying to hide the extra. Kate flicked on the hallway lamp with a sudden need to check what else was out of place. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find the rest of the hallway as she left it this morning, other than the note lined up so carefully against the corner of the hallway table she would have sworn it had been measured.

> I know you won’t have eaten anything so there’s food for you in the kitchen, please don’t let me still find it there when I wake up.
> 
> We’re in the spare room so we won’t disturb you. Find me if you want me.
> 
> I love you,
> 
> Osgood.
> 
> X

Kate moved automatically through to the kitchen, stopping with a hiccuping cry as she saw what was laid out on the table. A shot glass of vodka, a tumbler with two fingers of scotch, and a glass of water were lined up neatly behind a cling-film wrapped plate holding a cheese sandwich and a perfectly ripe tomato.

With practised ease, Kate knocked back the shot before sitting down and starting on the simple meal, tears shining in her eyes. She was halfway up the stairs; the remaining scotch in one hand, glass of water in the other, before the realisation hit her: it was Tuesday, two days after she had fought Osgood for the last of this week's tomatoes.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate awoke to the sound of a faint buzzing from the bedside table. As her brain came into focus she noticed three things:

  1. There was no Osgood. Her side of the bed felt cold, so there had been no Osgood for a while

  2. It was much brighter than she expected it to be when she woke up

  3. She hadn’t heard her alarm and she had double-checked that it was on before falling asleep




Kate pushed herself up, groaning as the memories of yesterdays events formed more fully in her mind. Osgood, no two Osgoods, had spent the night in the spare room, probably the twin beds her nieces sometimes used.

Judging from how long she had been allowed to sleep, the buzzing was most likely Win Bambera banning her from the tower for the day, despite the ungodly amount of paperwork yesterday must have generated. She was starting to get a headache just thinking about it, and that was before considering what Whitehall would need to officially recognise that existence to two Osgoods. She was personally hoping to find a different way out of that particular predicament but knew that this would be an instance when her stubbornness would be outmatched. No, that wasn’t right, Osgood wasn’t stubborn, she was…. Kate couldn’t find the right word for it, she was Osgood.

Kate grabbed her phone wanting to confirm her suspicions about Win’s text as she headed down to the kitchen. She needed coffee; she wanted something stronger, even if she had only just woken up.

She reached the kitchen door and was about to make a detour to find her glasses, noticing a text for Win Bambera wasn’t the only thing her Blackberry was alerting her to. Her phone was suddenly slipped from her grasp and was easily replaced with a ridiculously strong cup of coffee from the smell of it. Kate looked up to see her phone already slipping into her girlfriends pocket, from the corner of her eye spotting the end of a long striped scarf disappearing out of the back door.

“It’s been dealt with,” Osgood said, guiding her girlfriend to the kitchen table where breakfast had already been set up. Osgood stepped back, leaning against the counter, content to wait until Kate had eaten and was ready to talk.

* * *

“You knew,” Kate said in amazement. “You knew what I needed, even in this mess”

“Of course I knew”

“How did you know?”

“Because I’m me and you’re you.” Osgood lifted Kate’s chin, wiping the tears from her eyes as she tucked the escaping hairs back behind Kate’s war. “But, Kate, she’s me too.”

“No, no,” Kate shook her head again moving her face out from Osgood’s gentle grip.

“Kate, hey. Look at me, please. I need you to understand. Do you trust me?”

Kate nodded slowly, “I trust you. I just don’t know if I trust… But how do I know you’re not…?”

“Hey, hey,” Osgood took Kate into her arms, combing her fingers soothingly through blonde locks, and bringing Kate’s head to rest gently against her stomach. “It’s just me. Just me.” Osgood waited patiently, softly stroking her hands through Kate’s hair, happy just to be together until Kate was ready.

Kate’s breathing gradually began to calm as she allowed herself to relax into the familiar arms of her girlfriend. She may not be able to tell the Osgood’s apart, but she needed to believe that she was in the arms of the human, of the one person who could make her the happiest she had felt in her life. Finally, after what could have been hours or could have been no time at all, Kate stilled Osgood’s hands, pushing herself up so that she could see her girlfriend eye to eye.

“I’m not asking you for anything,” Osgood began carefully. “We don’t expect anything. Either if us. And I… we know things are going to be different. Things aren’t going to just be able to carry on as they were. But will you let me explain?”

“Are you going to tell me?”

Osgood tilted her head to the side asking for clarification with her eyes.

“Tell me which one you are?”

“You know I can’t do that, Kate.”

“But are you my Os?”

“Yes.”

“Human or Zygon?”

“Kate.”

Osgood watched the beginnings of the spark of anger pass through Kate’s eyes. “Do you know which you are?”

“Yes.”

“Then why won’t you tell me!?” Kate pushed herself away from her partner, and almost stomped her way through to the living room. She glanced out the window trying to steel herself with the familiar sight before pacing up and down the room.

Osgood took a puff on her inhaler, trying to calm her lungs through their heightened emotional state. And, after Kate’s third about-turn, Osgood followed through to the other room but not straying far from the doorway. “Are you sure that’s what you want to know?”

Kate stooped mid-step in shock. “Yes! Are you really you? Are you the woman who woke up in my arms yesterday? Are you my Osgood?”

“Those aren’t the same question, Kate.” Osgood moved forward placing her finger delicately on Kate’s lips before she had the chance to disagree. “I just want you to listen,” Osgood said gently. “If you still want to pace and shout when I’ve finished explaining I won’t do anything to stop you, okay?”

Kate nodded against Osgood’s finger, grinning as it was taken away. She allowed herself to be guided backwards so the two of them could fit comfortably on the sofa cushions. A far normal gap than normal looming between them.

“I know that for you it only lasted those 8 hours 17 minutes, but do you remember what it felt like when you didn’t know?”

Kate looked back at the other woman confused, “I still don’t know, Osgood. You haven’t told me anything.”

Osgood shook her head, “I’m not explaining this right.” Osgood sank back into the corner of the sofa, eyes focusing just beyond the tip of her nose as she worked to put her thoughts in order. “Back when The Doctor did…” Osgood huffed, unhappy with not having a scientific explanation for what had happened to them, “… whatever he did to the memory filters. And you didn’t know which one of you was…”

“Zygon?” Kate asked allowing her face to form into a half-smirk.

“Human,” Osgood allowed herself to relax now that her lover had begun to make jokes, no matter how exasperated they may be. “Put yourself back into The Black Archive, just after you stopped the detonation. How would you answer if I asked you how you got to The National Gallery?”

“Osgood.”

“Please, just try.”

“Jenkins drove us in early. We had already got readings suggesting The Doctor was somewhere in London.”

“And?”

“You want more detail?” Kate asked an eyebrow raised. She didn’t want to further discuss her morning with someone who very well might not have been there.

“There’s a second answer, Kate.”

“A second…”

“Just close your eyes and try to remember.”

Kate looked sceptically over to her partner. She wanted to trust this face, it had always been so trustworthy before. Kate took a deep breath, closing her eyes, but willing her other scenes to remain alert for any trickery. “What am I doing?”

“Go back to yesterday. Remember the burning heat of painted Gallifreyan sand, the smash as wrist barbs broke through the glass. Did you cut yourself, I know someone did?”

“No, not then. Not on the glass, but I skinned my knuckles on the statues. I can still feel it, but how?” Kate ran her fingers across the back of her knuckles, feeling the smooth, undamaged skin. “It wasn’t this hand?

“This hand was in a temporary Zygon pod. You freed me.”

“Yes, I did. But which you skinned her hand and which you got tied up?”

“It… it felt like it happened to me. Both happened to me.” Kate reached out and automatically tangled her fingers with Osgood’s resting them gently on her knee. She moved it let it go, push herself away as soon as she realised what she was doing, but Osgood’s grip held firm. The anger that Kate wanted to hold onto at that moment immediately quashed by the slight questioning smile on the face across from her.

“Exactly, I remember both versions too. And so does she, the other me.

“The same for  the other memories in our lives until The Doctor…”

“Did whatever ridiculous thing The Doctor did?” Kate asked lightly, knowing the conversation couldn’t survive Osgood trying to work out the science to something so far outside of current Earth knowledge.

Osgood nodded, a slight smile on her face as she realised that Kate was trying to keep them focused on the issue at hand, and no longer trying to run away from it. “ I have to focus to work out if something actually happened to me.  After that, it’s been different. I still know what she’s doing but the memories aren’t so… singular.” Osgood stared at the end of her nose again, trying to find a better way to explain what she meant. “I mean, I know what I did and what she did. The memories feel different.  I don’t have to think about it. ”

“But…”

Osgood looked up again in shock, she was worried that Kate was going to pull away from her again, accuse her of lying and send her away. Until, she felt Kate’s hand still steady against her own, thumbs still stroking against the back of her knuckles.

“You told me you know which one you are.”

Osgood nodded, the movement small and nervous, “We worked it out. Back in The Black Archive.”

“Then you know? Which memories are yours and which are hers.”

“Technically.”

“Osgood,” Kate said with an exasperated sigh, “you are all about technicalities. So what do you mean?”

“I know who the memories belong to when I think about it. But…”

“But?”

“But, when I remember that afternoon on the bolder by Castle Chillon, cheese sandwich in hand. I was there. Just as much as she was. Just as much as you were.”

“I um… I need some time,” Kate said running her right hand through her hair, the other remaining resting against Osgood.

“That’s okay.” Osgood replied, a sad smile on her face.

“I need you to be honest with me about this Os. So, is it? Is it, really?”

“No, but it’s what we have to do.” Osgood remained silent for a while; hoping for some kind of sign from Kate, “And this may not be the best way to tell you. But we’re going to have to go to Geneva for a while. Um, that’s me and her, not me and you.”

If Kate had been the kind of person to scream she would have done. ‘That’s not the kind of space I mean,’ and ‘I don’t want to lose you,’ laying waiting on her tongue. In stead with emotionless calmness she said, “Of course, I’m sure Central Command will have a lot to work out, dealing with a duplicated colleague.” Kate stood and squeezed Osgood’s hand before heading back upstairs. She tried to give off the air of everything being fine, but Osgood could see the distress written on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

The Osgoods strode quickly through the airport, dodging baggage claim, making to get outside and away from the quizzical looks that had been given to the identical women with almost identical passports. They were even beginning to question the decision to keep their first name in both passports. They knew that given that extra differentiation the higher-ups at UNIT would be able to tell them apart, but they had always hated the name and after the awkward conversations that kept repeating with Passport Control they were deeply regretting it. Now rushing as quickly as they could through the afternoon crowds a distinctive and familiar UNIT red beret placed itself between the sisters and their freedom from the airport.

“General, I know we’ve made things very awkward for UNIT but we didn’t expect you to pick us up from the airport.”

“That’s no t  why I’m here.”

“Oh, um…” Osgood chewed on her lip and fidgeted her glasses up her nose. Surely they hadn’t messed up an operation for the General, she had moved up to meet them, and if there was a UNIT operation active in Geneva they would know about it – probably.

“Well, I am here to pick you up, but it’s a matter much closer to home. Come on, Flo’s orders.”

“General,” the Osgoods stated automatically following General Bambera outside.  


* * *

“I didn’t know the Brig’s Bumbling Boffin had twins,” Flo said as she slid into the kitchen chair in front of her partner, watching the two Osgoods out on the veranda much as she had done with Kate about ten years earlier; and forcefully ignoring that she was far less graceful than she had been back then.

“He doesn’t. They’re both Osgood. And stop calling him that.”

“Huh, I want to say ‘lucky Kate’, but that doesn’t explain why they’re here.”

“One of them’s a Zygon.”

Flo’s eyes went wide in fear remembering her partner's stories of when the aliens had previously tried to invade the Earth. “Can’t you…?”

“There’s a new treaty. Osgood’s in the middle of it. Which means this is permanent, or as good as.”

“Poor Osgood.”

Win nodded her agreement against Flo’s shoulder, “Poor Kate, it seems that Osgood nominated herself to have a double.”

“Who were the options?”

“Osgood, Kate and another scientist Mc-something, no can’t remember.” Flo burst out laughing, surprising Win with the strength of it for a second. “What? I know it can’t be me forgetting that scientist’s name, you’ve known me long enough.”

“Not that,” Flo tried to calm down at least enough to speak between laughs. “I just wondered how Geneva would cope with two Kate Lethbridge-Stewarts.”

“Why, you.” Win hit her partner in the arm and gave an exaggerated, un-General like, shiver. “I’d take a Zygon Osgood over a Zygon Kate any day. Although it might be fun to see the Oversight Committee’s heads explode.”

“And you really don’t know which one’s the alien?”

“It’s part of the treaty, no-one can know which Osgood is which,”

“Not even Kate?”

“Especially not Kate. She could break the treaty far too easily.”

“But it’s Kate. Would she do that?”

“I don’t know. What would you do if I was the one with the double?”

“I have no idea, but I do know we have to help Osgood now. Did you pick up the floral gin?”  


* * *

“You not one for yodelling either?” Flo asked, moving onto the balcony, a tray holding two glasses of gin and tonic and a plate of crackers out in front of her.

“Not really up for shouting.”

“Although if you happen to have an alphorn lying around.” The other Osgood added a slight smile curling at her lips.

“Sorry, something I said to Kate when she was out here, that time.”

“Nothing to apologise for. Especially when it’s such a good idea, it’s a shame we don’t have one.” Beginning to feel slightly unsteady on her feet Flo took a seat, smiling back at the two Osgoods as though this was an everyday occurrence. “So, what’s this I hear about you running away from the love of your life?”

“I didn’t run.”

“You’re in Geneva.”

“We have a lot to sort out with Central Command.”

“And you didn’t have things to sort out with Kate?”

“We do, but she needs time to get used to the whole idea.”

“And that time’s best given when you’re 500 miles away?”

“465, and maybe I need some time to get used to this too.”

“Hang on. I thought this was all your idea?”

“Hmm,” Osgood nodded. “It made the most sense, logically. And The Doctor didn’t exactly give us much time. Not that I’ve managed to think of a better plan now.”

“And you really can’t tell Kate?”

Osgood shook her head, “She doesn’t trust me.”

“Now that doesn’t sound like Kate.”

“She only trusts one of us, and she can’t know which of us that is. It would be bad enough if she were just my boss, Boss I could cope at work. At home…”

“What would happen if she knew?”

“She could bring down the whole treaty.”

“You really think she would do that?”

“If she thought it was necessary she would kill every Zygon on this planet, and now that includes one of us.”

Flo pushed the glasses of gin and tonic closer to the two Osgoods, breaking the women out of their thoughts long enough to pick up a glass. By the time Osgood became aware of the rest of the world again, Flo had gone and the sun was noticeably lower in the sky. Checking the time and quickly converting it into GMT Osgood pulled out her phone.

_“Osgood?”_

“Hi, Dad.”

_“We weren’t expecting to hear from you today.”_

“I’ve got something I need to tell you. And I don’t think I can tell Mum, yet.”

_“That sounds ominous.”_

“Something happened at work. And well…”

“Hello, there are two of us now.”

_“Oh my goodness! Lab accident? Are you running tests? What have you come into contact with?”_

“No Dad, nothing like that. We have a new treaty with…, well I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you. But it does mean that this is, well, permanent.”

_“Does Kate know?”_

Osgood hummed in agreement, “But we’re, um, not there right now”

“Geneva, we have a few things to sort out here.”

“But also, we may not be talking, it’s not clear.”

_“Osgood, what haven’t you told me?”_

“One of us is, well, not, um, human.”

“And we can’t tell Kate which one.”

_“Have the Shreeves finally got their paperwork sorted? No, you wouldn’t have to the trouble of a duplicate for the Shreeve. Not a Zygon?”_

Osgood squeaked and tried to cover it up with a cough.

_“What’s stopping you from telling her?”_

“The treaty, neither side trust each other and, well, we were the only option for the go-between.”

_“Why you?”_

“They might not trust each other, but in theory they each trust one of me.”

“And to make sure it stays that way…”

_“You have to make sure no-one knows which one of you not to trust.”_

“Exactly.”

_“But that wasn’t what I was asking. You know how proud I am of you, but you have to admit you’ve never been much of negotiator. And now you’re what, an ambassador to an entire species? How did that happen?”_

“Not quite, and it, um, wasn’t exactly planned.”

_“Osgood?”_

“The Doctor messed about with the memory filters, which made everyone forget what species they were.”

“And, well, we worked it out.”

_“That’s my clever girl.”_

“Dad!” Chorused both of the Osgoods.

_“Okay, okay,”_ Tom chuckled. _“So back to the original problem, what’s stopping you telling Kate?”_

One Osgood breathed out heavily as the other took a calming puff of her inhaler. “She was willing to blow up the entirety of London today.”

_“And, if I know you, you were standing right beside her.”_

That her father didn’t seem to react to her mentioning the bomb, once again made Osgood glad that he hadn’t alerted her mother. “That doesn’t mean I agreed with it.”

_“No, you never have been one for the military side of UNIT operations. No matter how much you’re surrounded by them, Colonel.”_

“Dad!”

Tom sniggered at the exasperated cry of his daughter, no daughters now, he guessed. Unlike his wife, he wasn’t going to start worrying until they stopped reacting to him trying to embarrass them.

“She’d kill the few to save the many, I understand that, but she might give to an extra thought if one of the few were me.”

_“You think you being on the track would change Kate’s answer to the trolley problem?”_

“No, she’s far too experienced for that. I think me being on the track would give Kate the time to see that this isn’t a trolley problem. There are other options.”

_“And those options would be?”_

“Changing the rules.”

_“Lethbridge-Stewarts have always been rather good at that. But sometimes they need a bit of a push. And maybe, this time, you need a push to change the rules as well.”_

Osgood remained silent on the other end of the line.

_“Which rule are you most worried about, Osgood?”_

“Greyhound 1 can’t know.”

_“And if it were just you and Kate, no titles?”_

“I’m not completely sure, but I could probably tell my girlfriend.”

_“Then what’s the problem. I thought you worked this out not long after Kate moved back to London.”_

“I don’t think this is a time when ignoring that my girlfriend is also a member of UNIT is possible.”

“She can’t know for emotional reasons as much as logical ones.”

_“Do you honestly think she would react any differently if it were another member of UNIT?”_

“No matter how much she would want to, she can’t pretend it isn’t me.”

“And if she knows which me is Human that could change everything.”

_“Wait, are you saying it’s a good thing you’re liaising because you’ll make Kate react more emotionally if something goes wrong?”_

“Maybe?”

Osgood heard humming and rustling over the phone. _“Would you be worried about the treaty if another member of UNIT was the liaison? Someone more experienced in that area.”_

“What? No.”

_“Why not?”_

“Because I’d trust them to do their job, and Dr Stewart to spot anything if it started to go wrong. Oh!”

_“Osgood? Glad I could help.”_

“She still can’t know at work.”

_“I’m sure you’ll think of something. Now excuse me, you’re mother’s calling.”_

“Thanks, Dad. Goodbye.”

_“Goodbye, my clever girls.”_


	4. Chapter 4

Kate swivelled herself around on the sofa, stretching her legs across the cushions and using the arm to help stretch out her back. She brought herself back upright, her reading glasses slipped down her nose bringing her attention to the tension that was starting to build around her eyes. She pushed the glasses up onto the top of her head, allowing her to read the clock at the other end of the room. No longer surprised by her eye strain now that she was aware of how long she had been working. Kate stood up and began to tidy up the paperwork on the coffee table into completed and needs attention piles, before returning them to her briefcase.

Without work to distract her, Kate became aware of the growling emanating from her stomach and belatedly realised that it was a couple of hours after she would have organised supper if Osgood had been home. She was glad to find that among the meagre contents of the fridge was a portion of pasta sauce she had thrown together a couple of days before. Kate quickly prepared her meal, her mind cataloguing what she wanted to do next time she had the chance to get into the greenhouse, not wanting to risk thinking about more delicate topics after everything that had happened over the past few days.

It was, therefore, halfway out of the backdoor on a cold November evening, having eaten and cleaned up the kitchen automatically, that Kate was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the telephone.

_ “Hi,” _ Osgood’s voice came shakily through the receiver.

“Os, what’s wrong?”

_“I didn’t know whether you would want to hear from me.”_ Kate could almost see Osgood chewing on her lip as she perched on the end of the bed.

“Of course I still want to hear from you.”

_ “And, um…” _

“Tell me.”

_ “Is it alright if I put you on speaker, only um…” _

Kate sat confused for a second, Osgood had never worried about that before, she had always been happy to get on with preparing for bed whilst talking with her long-distance girlfriend before Kate had moved from Geneva. “Who else is with you?”

_ “The other me,” _ Osgood's voice sounded small through the handset, anxious in a way that Kate hadn’t heard in many years.  _ “She’d… I mean, we’d both like to say goodnight if that’s okay?” _

Kate had been expecting to immediately agree to whoever Osgood suggested, but this request took her by surprise. It’s not that she had forgotten about her girlfriend’s double; but, having spent half the day working on her emails from home as Osgood headed to Geneva, her thoughts on hearing from Osgood was just Osgood, as it always had been. It was, therefore, after a noticeable pause and with water in her eyes that Kate replied, “Of course it’s okay.”

Kate heard a brief fumbling as Osgood located the speaker function before a second nervous  _ “Hi” _ .

“Hello you,” Kate took a steady breath, “both of you.” She hoped her calm tone was helping to relax her lover despite the distance between them.

_ “I told Dad, well not about the Zygons, but about there being two of me.” _

“You can tell him about the Zygons, Os. I’m sure Flo already knows.”

_ “Yeah she does, and so does Dad” _

_ “He worked it out.” _

“He’s smart, just like his daughter.”

Osgood felt her ears warm and glancing at her sister suspected that she too had turned bright red, and noticed the gleam of condensation forming on her glasses.  _ “I’m glad he knows. It’s going to be difficult enough to work out what to tell Mum, when um…” _

_ “When you’re talking to me again,” _ the other Osgood mumbled, seemingly less affected by all the emotions flying around.

“I’m not angry at you Os. I’m angry at The Doctor and I’m angry at the situation, but I’m not angry at you.”

_ “ _ _ I know” _

_ “But it still hurts.” _

“I can hear you thinking.”

_“Not possible,”_ Osgood answered automatically.

“ Yes, it is,” Kate chuckled. “Even from Geneva. And I may not be able to offer you anything for you’re thoughts in person, but I’m sure Win can find you something.”

_ “Oh, um, we got a hotel.” _

“I’m surprised you didn’t get an offer of a spare room. Especially as I know Flo would have been generous with the gin.”

_ “Cats.” _

“Os?”

_ “They may not be in the chalet, but the spare rooms still made us sneeze.” _

“Ah, explains why you don’t sound as tiddly pom as I expected. But that still doesn’t get you out of explaining what’s in that head of yours.”

_ “I was trying to work out who to ask.” _

“I can give you both answers, as soon as I know what you’re asking.”

_ “You’re not angry…” _

“Os…”

_ “… Well, you’re not angry at me. But I need… _

_ “I want… _

_ “Can you tell me what you are feeling about me?” _

_ “About us?” _

_“That’s the two of us here, not you and me. Although, maybe that too?”_ Osgood trailed off in embarrassment.

Kate hadn’t heard Osgood be this unsure of herself for a long time, probably about as long ago as Osgood needed to explain what she wanted to ask. She really hated being so far away even with the difficulty of there being two copies of her girlfriend. “I’ll give you the easier answer first. As your boss: I beguilingly accept that it was you. Uh,” Kate cut off the expected rebuttal, “which is not because I don’t think you were right earlier or because I don’t think you’re up to the job. But, if I could have picked from more than just the three of us, I won’t have picked you. You’re a scientist Os, a bloody good one, although, I might be biased. But you’re not a liaison and, no matter how much practice you’ve had, I don’t think you want to be one.”

_ “ _ _ I’m a Senior Scientist, Kate, you’ve seen me work with the other science teams, with Troop. I can do this.” _

“I know you can. But I also know you’re worried, and not just about how everything’s going to change because of your… sister?

“Talk to me?”

_ “This isn’t science, Kate. This is a planetary treaty.” _

_ “And we don’t want to be the reason for the start of a war.” _

“You won’t be.”

_ “How can you be so sure?” _

“Because you won’t let it happen,” Kate smiled as she realised the truth of her words, and how right Osgood had been with her arguments yesterday. “You know, I think you might be the best person for the job after all.

“Now, are you ready for the difficult answer?”

_ “Hmm, okay.” _

“As your girlfriend: I still don’t know what to think. I love you, and you’re both Osgood, my Os.”

_ “But?” _

“But… I can’t…”

_ “What are you worried about, Kate?” _

“I can’t love you both like that and I don’t want to lose you.”

_ “You’re not going to lose me. I didn’t mean to run,” _

“You didn’t run. You’re needed in Geneva, and I asked you for space. Do you feel like you ran?”

_ “I didn’t…” _

_ “But people kept treating us like we had.” _

_ “So if I didn’t run and you aren’t going to lose me, what is my girlfriend thinking right now?” _

“That I don’t like that things have to change, and I miss you.”

_ “There might be something we can do to help with that.” _

“Coming home from Geneva.”

_“No… Yes… That would help with the missing you, once we’ve finished here,”_ Osgood rushed out the ending of her sentence needing to warn Kate that she couldn’t just drop everything and come home, no matter how much she wanted to.

Kate let out a chuckle, both because of the confusion her incredibly intelligent girlfriend had now found herself in and to confirm that she understood that Osgood wasn’t just going to leave her work, it wouldn’t be what either of them wanted.

_ “I’m confused, not cute.” _

“Definitely cute.”

_ “I’m not sure how to explain.” _

_ “And we’re not quite sure about it yet.” _

_ “But, please, don’t worry. It’ll be a good thing… if it works.” _

“I wasn’t worrying.”

_“I know,”_ Osgood finished her statement with a jaw cracking yawn that was immediately caught by her sister.

Kate chuckled again, “I think it might be bedtime in Geneva.”

_“Hmm, goodnight. I love you,”_ Osgood said through a yawn.

“I love you too, Os. Night both of you.”

_ “Yeah, goodnight, Kate.” _

Kate finished the call, confused that this had been the first time that she thought she could tell the Osgoods apart when she couldn't see them and they were in a different country.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate strode into her outer office, after a day away from the office yesterday she wasn’t surprised to find the start of a queue already forming, despite getting in so early. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was for the start of the queue to be two small girls. She looked over to Jacques questioningly.

“Jemima and Claudette, regarding Project Double. They have full authority to be here, we checked thoroughly,” Jacques gestured to the visitors' badges hanging around both girls necks.

“Of course,” Kate replied as though small children being able to schedule a meeting with the UK UNIT head was an everyday occurrence. Kate introduced herself to both girls, only then becoming aware that they would already know who she was after the meeting a couple of days before. In fact in that meeting one of the little girls stood in front of her had been wearing her form. Kate pushed the emotions down, limiting her reaction to clenching her fist within her trouser pocket. “Would you please excuse me a moment?” Kate disappeared into her office. Dialling a number on her desk phone from memory, she perched on the edge of her desk facing her office door, her free hand still clenched in her pocket.

_“_ _Kate, hi.”_

“Did you know about this?”

_“You’re going to need to be more specific.”_

“Jemima and Claudette.”

_ “What about them?” _

“Have decided to take the body prints of five-year-olds .”

_“Hmm, they mentioned something about wanting to better understand the human experience.”_

Kate heard a muffled conversation on the other end of the line, somebody else had just entered whichever borrowed office Osgood was currently using. _“Sorry about that, Kate, hi.”_

Still hearing Osgood's voice on the line it took a second for Kate to appreciate the significance of the second greeting, “Hello, you’re the other Osgood?”

_“Yes, I heard you have some questions regarding Jemima and Claudette?”_

“They’re children.”

_“Technically no, in terms of Zygon physiology they’re fully grown, and they retain all knowledge no matter which form they’ve currently decided to hold. Just treat them like they have blobby suckers and you’ll be fine.”_

“You are aware that this is going to cause extra complications with civilian authorities?”

_“What kind of complications?”_

“Guardianship, for one.”

_“That’s not necessary, as I explained, they are fully mature and are capable of looking after themselves.”_

“Something that neither the school board nor other legal authorities can be aware of.” Kate waited for a few seconds, but received no response, “Os, Osgood?”

There was a slight rustle followed by the puff of medication. _“Kate? What did you do to her?”_ Kate kept her ear open for the steadying breathing in the background.

“I merely reminded her that, given the lack of clearance amongst the civilian authorities, somebody is going to have to be registered as a Guardian for our Zygon friends.”

_“Ah…_ _I’ll talk to her. Can you get the paperwork started, please?”_

Recognising that Osgood was set clearly in work mode, Kate ended the call quickly, taking a moment to prepare herself for the Zygons waiting in her outer office. Pushing herself off of her desk, Kate moved to the door. “Jemima, Claudette I’m ready to see you now. Jacques, can you begin the paperwork for the girls, please? If you need to, list Osgood as their Guardian.”

If Jacques was surprised at Kate’s request for her girlfriend to be made guardian for these two girls, who the more he thought about it must be aliens, he doesn’t show it. “Can I get you anything to drink Dr Stewart, girls?” he asked instead. If Dr Stewart was prepared to treat all of this as a normal meeting, it was only right that he was prepared to do the same.

“Coffee, thank you, Jacques,” Kate replied as both girls shook their heads.

Kate slipped behind her desk and waited for the Zygons to get comfortable, knowing that what she had said outside had already raised questions. Although whether this was due to Zygon expressions being unexpectedly readable or that those expressions were currently being worn by two very young, very human face Kate couldn’t tell.

“Guardian?”’

“Your choice of body print requires it. All human minors must be within the care of a parent or guardian. I don’t know how Zygons consider the role of parenthood, but you have chosen the form of humans under the age of eighteen, so our civilian authorities will expect an adult to be in charge of your welfare.

“I thought that assigning Osgood would be the least objectionable to the two of you,” Kate smiled leaning her arms on the table in front of her. “Although I’ll leave the arrangements for the other Zygon who wish to take child form down to you.”

“We understand.”

“But we are here to discuss the set up of Zygon command.”

“We need to set out the groundwork as quickly as possible so we can make arrangements for the hatchery.”

* * *

“I think you need another puff,” Osgood said noticing her counterpart’s breathing hadn’t improved much as she finished her conversation with Kate. “Come on, sit up straight and deep breaths,” Osgood took hold of her upper arms, preparing to talk her double through the attack. “You’re going to need to learn how to dea…”

_Osgood looked down to the creature cradled in her arms. Their bright white body so delicate, so soft. She stared down in amazement at this beautiful creature their stubby little arms flailing, reaching out and grabbing hold of the bright red finger that Osgood held out in front of her. The stubby white fingers gripping tightly onto the digit, the small fist not quite being able to close, tiny fingers exploring the sensitive suckers found between each joint._

_ Osgood began to feel more comfortable with this creature in her arms, less worried that she would drop them every time they squirmed and kicked out happily. As her nerves faded Osgood became  _ _ more aware of the other feelings blooming in her chest. It was the same pride she felt watching Max in the Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst, or Gordy walking across the stage at his graduation. The same love for her family, together and happy in each other’s company. But within that burst of love and pride washed far deeper grief than Osgood had ever known. Despair that she  _ _ was unlikely _ _ to see this face again, never get to see the  _ _ adult _ _ this small child would grow up to be.  _ _ She was leaving now, for the sake of the Zygon race. Even if she succeeded there was very little chance of succeeding in time  _ _ to ever get to see this little one again. This was goodbye. _

“...al with my defect now,” Osgood blinked several times, registering, despite her confusion, that her double seemed to be breathing easier now. “What was that?” the words were out of her mouth before she had thought about it, mind still reeling with what she was beginning to realise had to be memories, but memories she had never seen before. She heard breathing hitch in response, but relaxed again as the overall pattern didn’t get any worse, “ Wait, was that you?”

Her counterpart nodded, still not feeling confident in her ability to speak.

“Your child?”

“Not like that,” the other Osgood managed to say, surprised by the raspy quality of her voice. “Relative.”

Osgood disappeared from the office for a second, returning with a cup of water for her sister. “You didn’t want me to see that.”

“I didn’t expect it. But I don’t mind,” Osgood smiled trying to show that despite the distress she really meant it. “I’d rather not discuss it though, what happened. I have to…” Osgood stood, walking away from her sister and off into the maze of central command, no end goal in mind.

* * *

“You do know that it’s not going to be like that with Jemima and Claudette?” Osgood asked spontaneously once they had returned to their shared hotel room for the night. “You’re their Guardian in name only. They know how to look after themselves, you said that for yourself.”

“What do you know about us, about the Zygons?”

“Just what’s in the UNIT files. A ship crashed into Loch Ness hundreds of years ago, we’ve never been able to find an accurate date. Once they heard that Zygor had been destroyed, they decided to start terraforming Earth intending to enslave humanity in the process. UNIT discovered and stopped them in 1975.

“Would it be terraforming if you’re trying to make a planet more like Zygor? They would have been trying to make Earth less Earth-like; although they would still have been transforming Earth which could work as a second meaning, not that it would help with scientific clarity.

“Sorry,” Osgood ended sheepishly.

“You knew we called it environmental restructuring,” her sister replied with a smile, “ works better when you’re dealing with multiple species who all need different environments.”

Osgood began polishing her glasses, falling naturally into the motions that calmed her sister.  “We were sent off from the refugee fleet to try to find a suitable planet. I identified your Earth as a world with all the necessary minerals, a breathable atmosphere, bits of it were colder than we’re used to but you seem to be changing that now.”

“Scientists have been trying to convince politicians that we need to stop doing that for decades,” Osgood grumbled.

“But we arrived with limited technology and, not knowing much about the biology on this planet, it was difficult to develop more. That was why out Commander decided that we should wait for you humans to start to develop your own.

“Our Commander wasn’t with us when we awoke from the stasis cube. They had taken the form of your Queen before we froze ourselves. We were never supposed to be in charge, but the three of us had to make sure the hatchery was safe. And now you’re telling me that I’m responsible for Jemima and Claudette on top of all the hatchlings.”

“I told you, it won’t be like that. It’s more of a cover story for everyone outside of UNIT, most of the planet doesn’t know anything about aliens, remember.

“We need to make sure the cover story is believable. That mostly means paperwork, but we might need to make a few showing at school at some point.”

Osgood looked thoughtful but was at wast less concerned about the upcoming Guardianship. She began searching through her bag, pulling out a travel chess set, “Fancy a game?”

“Go on then, I think it might be a while until I next get a chance to go to chess club.”


	6. Chapter 6

General Winifred Bambera strode through the  corridors of UNIT HQ, trying to make sure it didn’t look like she was rushing. It really wouldn’t do for a General to rush, people were supposed to work to her timetable, but she was very aware that  Osgood was always early and that Henri had taken longer to remind her that she was expected  than he usually would, having lost track of her during a rare lunch outside of the office. As she turned into the next corridor she caught sight of Osgood leaning against a wall and reading a dog eared paperback. It was odd to see Osgood without her sister after the past few weeks. She couldn’t remember seeing the two Osgoods apart since… well since there were two Osgoods. Win relaxed, it looked like the rest of the committee were also running late, either that or they were keeping Osgood outside as they waited for her. But Win would much prefer to have a couple of seconds to talk with her friend then head straight into the committee room anyway.

Osgood caught sight of her, slipping what looked like an old bus ticket into her book which she then returned to her satchel. “Feeling better today, Osgood?”

“I’m not sure better’s the right way of putting it, General.”

“Oh?”

“Concerned about a different set of problems,” Osgood tilted her head towards the meeting room where the sisters were due to be the main subject in,  Win checked her watch, just over five minutes  ago . “This morning’s meetings felt like we were going backwards.”

“What happened this morning?”

“Now that my sister’s returned to London, some of the board felt that it was the perfect time to start requestioning both of is having positions at UNIT.”

“What? But that was established last week, I’ve got the papers ready on my desk.”

“Unsigned.”

“Yes, well, we’ve both been busy. You’ve been in back to back meetings since you got here.”

“Yes, I know. I just meant that, as far as the committee’s concerned, nothing is official.”

“Well, you’ve already got my support for whatever you need.”

“Isn’t that a bit presumptuous General?”

“And stop trusting the best scientific mind that UNIT has got?” Win looked across to the embarrassed Osgood, wearing an expression of mock offence. “Or should that  be best minds now? So explain  it to me again?”

“You just want to be more in the know than Claude for once.”

“I…” Win reconsidered, “won’t deny it. I’ll enjoy seeing the look on his face.”

“You just need to know that we’re both who we say we are.”

“Which is?”

“Osgood.”

“But one of you is a Zygon?” Win asked out of curiosity rather than accusation.

“Technically, but for all intense and purposes, we’re just Osgood.”

The door to the meeting room opened, revealing a man who looked unexpectedly rumpled for this  early in the afternoon .  Allowing  Win and Osgood to see into the room and, unlike their previous meetings, a projection of Kate’s empty office. “We’re almost ready for you Miss Osgood, we’re just waiting for… General,” he added in surprise upon noticing that General Bambera had been patiently talking to the woman that, as far as he understood it, was a significant security risk.

“Are you waiting for me, Lukas?”

“And Greyhound 1, General, but I believe she’s only joining for part of the meeting.”

“Kate’s been called in?”

“We wanted her input regarding you being under her direct command, Miss Osgood.”

“It’s Osgood, just Osgood. And I thought we already sorted that out four years ago?”

“As we’ve been discussing, your current situation has an unprecedented impact on your position within UNIT.”

Osgood began cleaning her glasses as she forced herself to keep the list of previous members of UNIT who had been, as the files delicately  put it, influenced by an alien intelligence purely internal.

“She’s still a Greyhound,” Win moved forward, intending to remind  Lukas  Kehrer that he was supposed to be directing them into the meeting room, not blocking the doorway.

Osgood took her usual seat, facing the semicircular desk, now full as Win took her seat in the empty chair.

“Just the one of you today, Ms Osgood?”

“It’s just Osgood, thank you. And as I’m sure Dr Stewart has already explained to you, we’re expecting the Zygon refugee ship today so having an arbiter of peace between the Zygons and humanity present would be useful.”

“I thought the peace between our species required the two of you together.”

“I understood that my presence in Geneva today was compulsory.”

“Yes, well, we had meant it to be compulsory for the two of you. We haven’t come to an agreement over your status within UNIT yet.”

“I hope you're not suggesting pushing our top scientist and only chance at peace with the Zygons out of UNIT,” Kate’s voice broke through the conversation seconds before she strode into view of the camera and, therefore, the meeting room in Geneva.

“Uh, no Ma’am. It’s just that technically only one of them was ever actually a UNIT employee to start with.”

“Really? I was informed that everything was now in place, except for wanting my input on having two Greyhound 2s on my team.  Or at least two people who could potentially act as Greyhound 2.”

Win spoke up before anyone else in Geneva could attempt to make the situation more complicated (she was already dreading the amount of paperwork the meetings were generating), “You were informed correctly, Kate. Some of my colleagues seem to forget themselves.” Win glared across the table taking in several of the men who had made the last couple of weeks the most tedious. She turned back to smile at Osgood who, she was happy to see, had managed to significantly reign in her fidgeting from earlier.

“Well in that case. What exactly do you want to know?” Kate leaned back on her heels, arms slipping out of her pockets so that she could perch on the edge of her desk as she found it behind her.

* * *

“I can’t think of a better person to be UK UNIT’s second in command than Osgood. We’ve already got arrangements in place due to our relationship, including various decisions being counter-signed by General Bambera. Do you have any problems with Osgood’s performance General?”

“Not at all Ka…”

“Problem!” Claude Tredomont interrupted, “she’s being influenced by an alien.”

“An alien that is an ally of humanity, Claude.”

“Whose species was considered hostile until a few hours ago. What guarantee do we have that they’ll be peaceful?”

“You’re looking at it, Claude.”

Claude looked around the room suspiciously, only fixing his gaze on Osgood at a nudge from Winifred Bambera, “They are the peace,” she further clarified.

“You expect them to be able to stop a Zygon on a rampage?”

“No more than I’d expect you to stop a lone human gunman. But to hold both Zygon leadership and UNIT accountable so that we don’t start an unnecessary war? I couldn’t think of a better pair. Now unless anyone else has anything they’d like to add? It seems our arrivals are ahead of schedule.”

“We still need to know which one’s alien.”

“She won’t even tell me. Good luck with that Claude.” Kate shut off the video link leaving Geneva in silence as they reoriented the meeting back to being purely on the conference room.

“You can’t expect me to believe she’s happy with not knowing.”

Osgood shuffled in her chair and worked to straighten an already straight bow tie as the discussion drifted closer than she would like to her personal life, especially without Kate still being present.

“They’ve always been good at keeping personal feelings out of UNIT and I expect this is no different,” General Bambera ended that line of discussion forcefully. “The question we are here to answer is whether UK UNIT will have a proper chain of command with two people being able to act with the authority of Greyhound 2.  And given that the Osgoods have already  spilt those duties between here and the UK when it became necessary, I for one do not doubt their continued success. Do you all agree?”  Murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the room. “Good. Now, how much paperwork is involved in setting all of this up?”

“The papers on your desk would be a good start I think, General.”

“Yes,” General Bambera stood, gesturing Osgood ahead of her out of the meeting room. “At least, this will prevent them from questioning your remaining within UNIT.”


	7. Chapter 7

It was odd, Osgood through, walking back through the airport alone. She may have  done so hundreds of times before, but after the last few weeks, if never being far from her new sister, of sharing even the majority of their thoughts with each other, it was taking some getting used to just being alone again. She moved easily through the crowds of people hoping that the UNIT car she had requested would  already be waiting outside. However, she wasn’t expecting a car with a full  police escort to pull up to her as she stepped out of the terminal. She was even more surprised to find that car did not contain Kate. “Jenkins?” She questioned, immediately glad that he was driving and therefore would allow her to open and close her own door.

“We’re taking you straight to the scene, Ma… Osgood,” Jenkins could feel Osgood’s glare at the attempted Ma’am through the back of the chair. Instead of drawing more focus to his mistake, Jenkins began the long practised action of pulling away from the curb with the surrounding police riders.

Osgood remained quiet until they were out of the  airport and the surrounding car parks aware that  this part of the drive likely required a large amount of  concentration as  pedestrians rushed here and there between the cars. It was only once they hit normal traffic that she  felt comfortable enough to ask questions. “Where’s the scene?”

“RAF Northolt, the size of the Zygon refugee ship means a long unloading time, so we’re borrowing an airbase.

“Your prototype’s under the middle seat,” he added as he noticed Osgood pull out her phone.

Finding the headset Osgood began the still annoyingly long process of connecting it to the car’s onboard Wi-Fi via her phone.

_ “Connected to Tower Ops,”  _ sounded an electronic voice in Osgood's earpiece.

“Greyhound 2 to Greyhound 1.”

_“_ _Greyhound 1 receiving. Hello you.”_

“Hi, what’s the situation with you?”

_“_ _Zygon ETA in 10 minutes. We’ve got Jemima and Claudette with us.”_

“Can you get them on radio? They know the logistics of landing a Zygon ship better than anyone else, but I thought we had more time than that? And how are we doing for cloud cover?”

_“_ _So did we, it seems they can’t maintain I stable orbit. If we wait much longer we risk them being visible to the whole of Europe._

_“The girls have insisted on sticking with Zygon technology._ _We haven’t had much luck connecting it to the UNIT systems without you here, but it at least allows us to have a secure communication line to the ship._

_ “We rated the offload to disruptive for our usual Gatwick fog bank, hence the airbase. _

_“_ _Status on_ _civilian cover_ _Retriever 1._ _”_

McGillop coughed and fumbled with his radio as he attempted it answer it without dropping the tablet he was monitoring,  _ “Retriever 1 receiving. We should have partial cover in three minutes, Ma’am, but we can’t guarantee full coverage. Uh, over.” _

_ “How long until we can expect full coverage Retriever 1?” _

_ “Uh, 15 minutes if we’re lucky, Ma’am, over.” _

“Are you using the new  zone antennas,  McGillop?”

_ “No Greyhound 2, we would need another 30 minutes to get it operational, over.” _

“Oh?”

_ “What would you need to speed up the process, McGillop?” _

_ “Uh, Greyhound 2 Ma’am, over.” _

_ “Any idea when you’ll be on-site Osgood.” _

“Um,” Osgood checked her watch automatically. Not wanting to disturb Jenkins as he listened to the police channel, Osgood looked around the car hoping to spot something familiar out the window. “Still about 10 minutes out. Retriever 1 can you send me photos of the current set up? I’ll see what I can do on route. Greyhound 2 out.” Osgood disconnected her prototype headset, stowing it back underneath the middle seat. She double-checked the connection to her phone making sure that the software wasn’t still trying to connect her to a device that was no longer switched on. She began making notes on the improvements on the improvements she wanted to make to her next headset design as she waited for McGillop’s photographs to come through.

* * *

McGillop jumped as a figure appeared beside him from the fog. He relaxed once again as his eyes travelled up from the sensible walking boots to the overly long scarf of his friend and lab partner. “Ah, Osgood. Finally.”

“Have you got the antennas in place McGillop?”

_ “Bulldog 5 to Retriever 1, antenna 5 in place, repeat antenna 5 in place, over.” _

“That was the last one. We just need you to double-check out signal output and we’re good to go. Not that I can see how this is better than our old system anyway,” McGillop finished with a grumble.

Osgood ignored her friend’s grumbling, instead choosing to take it as a well-framed question. It wasn’t McGillop’s fault that he had had to traipse  around a foggy airbase since well before dawn, well  technically the fog was his fault. “A new alien addition to a Fresnel zone antenna,” she explained, “with it, we have some control over the fog itself. So as long as we’ve done this right…” Osgood hit the switch transferring power over from their typical set up to the antennas.

The fog began to move around them obscuring all visibility. Until, after a few moments, the entirety of the runway cleared. A circular mist remained around them providing a slightly out of focus view of the surrounding area.

“…  We can turn the fog itself into a Fresnel zone plate. Allowing us and the Zygon ship to be in focus to each other, but just a fog bank to the surrounding population.” Osgood picked up the tablet from the top of the main control box. She quickly checked that it was correctly monitoring all the necessary outputs before handing it off to an unresponsive McGillop. “Are you joining us?” She called back to her, still shocked, colleague as she strode across the airbase towards Kate and the two young girls stood either side of her.

“Glad to have you back,” said Claudette, handing Osgood what appeared to be a small red tentacle, which Osgood fitted around her left ear and made sure that it didn’t cause any interference with the UNIT earpiece already held in her right.

“Temporary link to the  control  polyp  while it’s off-planet,” clarified Jemima, “UNIT have agreed to house it in the basement of our new school once we’ve extracted it from the ship.”

“Thank you, girls, Kate.” 

_ “Bulldog 1 to Greyhound 1, we have visual, over,”  _ came over the UNIT headset just seconds before a large ship appeared to rise over the fog bank.

“Confirmed Bulldog 1.” Kate turned to the girls, “Bring her in.”

McGillop watched the ship in amazement,  it was only familiar to him from some of the old UNIT reports he had picked up after being in the middle of the Zygon incident.  The length of the ship was astounding, having only previously stood this close to a passenger jet,  he wasn’t prepared for the ship to stretch the entire length of the runway. He stared upwards, worried about it having the space necessary to decelerate. The  sheets  of shinning metal and harsh angles was nothing like he had been expecting from the  Zygon’s biological technology  described in the UNIT files.  The ship moved closer, allowing him to make out octagonal modules with corners glinting in the sun. They reminded him of the reports he had found written by the Brigadier himself, of the scout ship that had once emerged from the waters of Loch Ness. Struts stuck out of four opposing sides  of the modules, one connecting them back to the main body of the ship, the others turning  as he watched to face the ground as the ship began to hover  above  him.  The soft buzz of the engines changed as it began its descent towards the tarmac. At the final click of the landing gear slotting into place, he heard the familiar sound of boots on the ground as the Dogs formed a protective line between the Greyhounds’ party and the ship’s entrance hatch.

Much to his surprise, it wasn’t Kate Stewart who stepped up to the entrance hatch, but the two small school children who had been waiting either side of her.  Troop awkwardly repositioned themselves with half their guns moving away from the ship to train on the young girls.

“Ma’a…?” began one of the Dogs who, McGillop realised,  had to be Bulldog 1.

“On behalf of the Zygon people we request UNIT’s permission to normalise and greet our kin,” rang out from the girls in unison.

“Permission granted,” confirmed Kate, still completely at ease, hands deep in her pockets. “They’ve been reading some of the UNIT conventions,” she explained to the two scientists, “I think they want to make a good impression.”

“Why they’ve been having meetings with you for weeks?”

“I’m not the one they want to impress,” Kate tipped her head over to Osgood who had turned bright red and was fidgeting with the ends of her scarf. 

Any response McGillop was going to make was lost when Jemima and Claudette normalised, surprising a couple of the greenest members of Troop, luckily not enough for anyone to discharge a weapon.

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” Osgood stepped forward to follow them, pulling a scanner from the pocket of her duffel coat. “I’d better begin cataloguing our new resident aliens.”

“They won’t be for much longer,” Kate replied a wry smile on her lips, “they’ll all be getting citizenship.”

Kate turned towards the two Zygon, “Don’t let anyone out without a human body print and  keep the groups organised . We wouldn’t want to scare our RAF friends now would we?” She casually waved them off into the ship.

McGillop was rather jealous of his colleague as he watched her follow the to aliens into the space ship. He may be part of UNIT, but actual space ships still hadn’t lost their excitement. That was,  jealous until he remembered that he was possibly watching three aliens enter the ship. He was, therefore, slightly unprepared for Greyhound 1’s signal confirming that the area was visible alien free (or as least as alien free as possible with an alien ship holding twenty million Zygon sat on the runway).

Kate flipped over her radio to a second channel, “We’re ready for you Group Captain, as please don’t argue with the Dogs this time.”

McGillop adjusted the settings on the tablet in front of him.  A section of the fog  bank moved back , revealing a rather unimpressed RAF squadron.


	8. Chapter 8

Osgood had to suppress the urge to gasp as she stepped into the Zygon ship. She couldn’t tell, for a second, whether it was due to being inside an organic ship or seeing all of the technological advances of the past 400 years. The relative non-reaction by the two girls in front of her (it felt somewhat odd to still refer to them as girls when they stood before her in their 6 ft tall normalised Zygon forms) suggested that it had to be more than just the latter. The entrance chamber looks rough at first glance; it could have been mistaken for a cave if not for the viscous fluid keeping the various mechanisms lubricated. Small sucker like protrusions sat at various points around the room at what was rather higher than the waist height that Osgood had been expecting. She reached out a hand to the control sucker that she knew would open up a hatch to the main corridor, only to suddenly stop as the sucker on the wall was not met by one on her finger, nevertheless, the hatch slid upwards at her touch; revealing the corridor, which a helpful part of Osgood’s mind was quick to remind her looked much like how she would have imagined the inside of an oesophagus. Osgood reached a hand down to double-check that her inhaler was still situated comfortably in her pocket and took a deep breath. She drew forth the persona that she had adopted for the committee in Geneva, letting it settle over her in a way that she always hoped would soon begin to feel more comfortable. She was already going to stand out in a ship full of Zygon and didn’t want to give them another reason to question her presence here.

Once she had properly oriented herself, Osgood headed towards the control polyp, scanner still held tightly in her hand. “Can you keep everyone calm until I’ve hooked this up, girls?” She smiled apologetically as dozens of Zygon began to push their way into the room.

Osgood slipped off her coat and lay it carefully over the top edge of the control polyp, balancing the scanner on top of them both. She carefully rolled up her shirtsleeves to her elbows and pulled an old rag from the bottom of her bag; this was going to be a messy job, even compared to servicing the old, oil-laden UNIT machines. Osgood plunged her arm deep into the slime-covered guts of the control polyp, pulling out a mass of tendrils, looped together much like the wires and cables of human machinery. She grabbed the rag, wiping off her arms followed by the tendrils, muttering to herself as she pieced together schematics and circuitry in her head.

Yes, it might take a while, but there was no obvious reason why she couldn’t cobble together some kind-of adaptor for the scanner. Although…

“Claudette, could you find me a technician, please?”

* * *

“Got it!” yelled a Zygon from below the control polyp, “try it now.”

“I think…” replied Osgood as she scrolled through her tablet. “Yes, I’m getting something. Wow, this interface needs some work, but I can connect to the scanning programme.

“Ready to be the first Zygon registered? Well third really with the girls and…” Osgood began to gesture to herself but stopped, her hand still hovering in mid-air. “Yes well, step on up Bertie.”

“What do I do?”

“Hand here,” Osgood pointed to a section of the control polyp, “then we need you’re name once in your normalised form and once when you’re in your new body print.”

“Whose body print am I getting?”

“Randomly selected from the Great British public, I’m afraid. It’s the fairest way given our time constraints. Although you have a choice of gender if you have a preference?”

Bertie looked back at Osgood, confused.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just put you down as no preference,” Osgood smiled back as she pressed something on her tablet. “Whenever you’re ready.”

They stepped forwards, suckers gripping firmly onto one of the prongs on the control polyp, “Bertie Faron.” Bertie shivered for a second, their hand moving off of the prong as though they had been shocked. “We might have a loose connection?” Their eyes went wide in surprise as their voice changed mid-sentence. Bertie’s neck narrowed, they lost around a foot from their height; and when they looked down at their hands, where there had previously been red suckers now sat smooth brown skin.

“Oh,” Osgood said after a second, she began rummaging around for something in her bag. “Sorry, I don’t use it much, but I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. Aha!” Osgood pulled out the small mirror with a flourish. “What do you think?”

“It’s strange. I can’t believe that this is my face now.

“And I’m not sure about this style,” she continued, pulling at her tan jacket.

“The clothes are an easy fix, once you’re allowed to get off the base and go shopping,” Osgood shrugged. “You’ll get used to the rest of it. The girls did. I can’t comment for myself, mine’s not exactly the conventional setup.

“Timelords,” Osgood commented on seeing Bertie’s look of confusion. “Let’s find this loose connection so we can finish up your registration.”

Bertie stepped to the back of the control polyp, but then hesitated and not joining Osgood on the floor.

“Come on, you’re going to have to get used to working with those hands eventually,” Osgood smiled up at her now human-looking companion, “and it’s not as far down as it was 5 minutes ago.”

“Well you were right about the loose connection,” Bertie said kneeling to fiddle with one of the connection tendrils. “And… yep… there… I think I’ve got it.” Bertie began to push their way off of their knees, “You just need me to say my name again, right?”

Osgood nodded, “As soon as you’ve got your hand back on the frond, yes.”

“And hopefully I don’t get shocked this time,” the Zygon took hold if the control frond once again, “Bertie Faron.”

“I’ve got everything here.” A grin returned to Osgood’s face, “You can let go now. I take it everything’s good on your end.”

Bertie sheepishly removed their hand from the control polyp, “I’d like to stick around, though, make sure nothing else comes loose.”

“Tiptop, as Kate would say,” Osgood smiled at her new friend, flicking the radio from her belt, “Now I don’t have to ask you.

“Greyhound 2 to Greyhound 1.”

_“I’m here, Osgood.”_

“We’re all set this end, can you send the dogs in please?”

_“On their way.”_

The sounds of soldiers’ boots soon echoed through the Zygon ship as Troop took up their positions, rifles cleanly aimed at the two Zygons waiting on either side of the main entrance to the control room.

“Stand down!”

The unexpected bark from Osgood caused the majority of the UNIT soldier to lower their weapons. Unfortunately, not all of the soldiers had experience with UNIT and believed that the mantra of “Science Leads” stopped at Kate Stewart. Therefore, the sergeant, and those who recognised him as the authority in the room, kept their guns raised at the obvious alien threat.

The hiss of an inhaler sounded loud in the now quiet room and the soldiers still on alert flinched at the sound, readying themselves for action. There were a few more seconds of silence before Osgood's voice rang out clearly through the room, “Lower your weapon please, sergeant.” Osgood strode forward, pulling her UNIT ID card from her pocket as she went. She was glad in that moment that her sister had agreed to put up with the temporary ID card that Geneva had insisted on. “Is this the first time you’ve been out with UNIT?”

“Stay back, Ma’am. We’re here to protect you.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Osgood held her UNIT ID up in front of the sergeant’s nose, allowing him to see the honorary Colonel rank that at least one of the sisters should still hold (as long as nothing had gone horribly wrong in Geneva). “Please lower your weapon.”

The sergeant lowered his gun, suddenly feeling very nervous, “Ma’am.”

“Osgood. The Zygon are friendly, we’re here to escort them onto the planet. You’re here for their protection just as much as mine and Dr Stewart’s.

“Now, I need you to be prepared to witness shapeshifting without your weapons making everyone nervous, okay sergeant?”

“Ma’… Osgood.” The sergeant raised his hand and his squad peeled off to the assigned stations around the room.

Osgood returned to the control polyp, breathing out heavily and shaking off the excess tension that filled her body. Dealing with the military structure of UNIT was not something that she had been prepared to do today. “Girls, start sending people in once you’re ready.”


End file.
